Railroad-tie.



J. J. BRANAGAN.

RAILROAD n2.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 7| i917- 1,256,199. Patented Feb.12,1918.

JOHN J'. BBANAGAN, OF MGKEES RdGKS, PENNSYLVJLHIA RAILROAD-TIE.

' Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented f'Fcbe 12,

Application filed December 7, 1917. Serial No. 205,927.v

To all whom it m my concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN J. BRANAGAN, a citizen of the United States,and a resident; of McKees Rocks, in the ,county of Allegheny and Stateof Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement inRailroad-Ties; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full,clear, and exact description thereof.

lily invention relates to improvements in ties, and more particularly tometallic ties for railways, and has for its leading object the provisionof an improved form of rail-- road tie having formed thereon an improvedchair portion which will be durable and strong, and which will eliminatethe necessity of using'spikesor bolts for joining and securing the'railsto the ties.

Another object of this invention is to provide a tie of this class whichwill positively prevent spreading of'rails atany time, and one which maybe readily disassembled .to all ])w removal and replacement of worn rais.

Another object is to provide a tie of the above mentioned class whichwill allow for the longitudinal expansion and contraction of the railsdue to change in temperature.

. Other "objects, such as trussing and general reinforcing of the tiebase and its as-,

sociated parts'in such manner as to facilitate rather than hinderthe'planting of the tie will. be more fully brought out in the followingspecification and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

It is well known that, in the use of the ordinary wooden tie to whichbed plates, chairs and other such devices must be attached when layin' aroad, when the rails ,themselvesare applied on these attachments theymust be spiked in position and the rail joints bolted. v

Continual use of roads constructed with wooden ties will cause thespikes to become 'fore the; re-sctting of the ties and the applicationof new boits'and spikes are eliminat'edtas are also the bed plates,chairs and such other contrivances as maybe used. I In carrying out myinvention I provide a channeled or hollowed base havin an improved chairportion at each end adapted to receive a rail and having movable partsin the form of wedges and clamping membersfin adapted to hold the railssecurelyin ,posi-g, tion'. \Vhile I have shown and described one}particular form oi my invention ,.it willbe readily understood that I donot wish to .be '65 limited to the exact form shown, since viiriouschanges in design anddetails of structure ma be made without, departingfrom. the spirit of my invention asdefined inthef' appended claims. Inthe drawin s; -j"- Figure l is a plan view of asection of i roadconstructed with my improved tie; 1 Fig. 2--ie a sectional view on the.liiie'2 -2 of lrig' 1,3. 14? I F ig, 3 is an end view of oneof the ties" having a rail therein; j'

Fig. dis a longitudinal sectional view of one of the ties partly brokenawayr' Fig. 5 is a perspective view o ff;thf wedge member of my device;

Fig. 6 is a similar view ofthe clamping member; and i 7 V Fig. 7 is aview on the line 7- 7 at Fig? 6.

Referring moreparticularly'to the d'rawings, the letter A designatesthe-b'ase'of"inytieas a whole, which consistsof a' t op' Q and sides 3,formin a channeled porti'onfl 'l he base A is suitably braced within thechannel by web tie members 4,, cross tie members'tio 5, and the sideportions have reinforcing flanges 6 on their outer face spaced at inten'vals, which also serve to prevent lateral movement of the tie. Thebottom surfaces of the base are slightly rounded, as at 7,1soa as topresent a deflecting face to any objects they may strike when the tiehas been set-on planted;

The chair members formed-at each end of. the base A'are identical inconstructiomand therefore a detailed description of one of the chairs isdeemed sufficient, it being understood however that the "same-.'reference numerals apply to the same parts of; both. chairs.

The, chair is formed ad acenttheendwf the tie and comprises a'locking.qfla'ng e's 8 formed integral with the t01l-100l3tl0fltlfii-llQ}base, having a suitably beveled gmoma (in,

its inner face adapted to receivethje base? 1 10 flange 10 of anordinaryrail-111.; lTheftopi face 2 of the base has a suitable channel12- termed therein and, a clamping member 13 adapted to be slidablymounted in said c liannel portion and comprises a rectangnla-r 1 portionH having a locking tongue i l and to'engage in the base portion of theflange 8, an upwardly extending necting rib 15, and a top portion which'ber isadapted to be inserted within the channel 12 and comprisesa'lowerwedge portion 21 and snapper wedge portion 22,

hai its side facesfen'gagethe side face of the clamping member-13 andthe beveled porion of the transverserib or abntment 19, while the upperwedge portion 22 is adapted to engage the inside face of the connectingrib 15 of-the member 13, and to be held in such position by theoverlying extension or fiangellfl, and; to also be engaged within theroove'20 in the abutment or rib l9, and is thereby firmly locked-inposition.

lt -will be read'ly seen that "when a rail is placed inposition and theclamping member 13vis forced against the inside edge of the rail base10, and the wedge 21-22 is driven into position, that the several partswill be bound firmly against movement.

After the wedge 21-22 has been driven into position,- a cover plate 23having end flanges 24 extending downwardly therefrom present them" frombecoming clogged by dust, dirt, etc, and to prevent their working loose.

To further strengthen the tie base,; a'

sfiange is engaged in the beveled groove 9 in the locking flange 8. Theclamping member 13 is then inserted within the channel 12 and forcedagainst the rail so that its flange '16 extends over and engages theother side of the. base flange 10 of the rail 11. The

* ds outwardly from the connectingrib who described. A compound wedgemcmad-apted to cover the wedge members to v nannies l. A metallic tie ofthe class described comprising a base portion, a chair portion formed oneach end of said base, each of said chair portions comprising Flockingflange adapted to, engage the base flange of' a rail, an upwardlyextending abutment formed integral with said base and spaced from saidlocking flange, a clamping member' mounted betweensaid locking flangeand said abutment, said clamping member comprising a base portion, anupwardly extendi n g connecting rib, and a top member extendingtransversely 'of-said connecting rib,

I anda wedge member adapted to cooperate the -lower wedge portion 21being adapted to with said clamping member and abuynent to I securelybind'said parts together.

2, A metallic tie of the class comprising a channelshapcd base portiondescribed hating means formed. thereon to prevent,

endwise movement thereof, a chair portion formed on each end of saidbase, 'eacli chair portion comprising a locking flan e adapted toreceive one side of the base ange of a rail, an upwardly extendinabutment spaced from said flange and tormed integral with said baseportion, a., clamp-ing member slidably mounted between said 'lockmgflange and said abutment, and adapted to engage the one side of the baseflange of a rail, and a wedge member adapted to coiipcrate with saidabutment and said clamping member to securely bind said parts inposition.

3. A metallic tie of the class described comprising a channel shapedbase portion and means formed thereon to prevent end wise movementthereof, a chair portion member comprising a base portion, an upwardlyextending connecting rib, and a top, member cxt'e ndingtransversely ofsaid con- -nerting rib, and a compound wedgemember adapted to cooperatewith said c'lampin 0? 'member and abutment to securely-bind said partstogether.

4. A metallic tile of the class described comprising a channebshapedbase portion having means formed thereon to prevent endwise movementthereof,- a chair portion formed on each end of'said base, each off'formedfloneaeh end of said base, each'of said, chair! portionscomprising a locking flangeghaving. a "beveled groove therein at,

its:.base'adapted ,-to receive the base flange jofa rail, an 'upwardlyextending abutment formed integral" with said base and spaced fronisaidlocking flange and having :1 rec-- tangular' move-therein, a ciampinmem- "ber slidab y mounted between said 10? docking flange and'f-saidiabutment, said clamping [member "comprising a base portion, an up-Wardlyextending connecting rib, and a top portionextendiu transverselyof said con- I necting riband ormi-ng flange portions on each side ofsaid connecting rib, and n c0m- 5 Bound wedge member adapted to beengaged etween said clampii'xg member and said abutment and to have aportion thereof engaged wlthin said rectangular move of said abutmentand under one of tle'flunges J. M. Gnoomicax, J. E. JACKSON.

